Quote:
Originally Posted by VillageIdiots
I try not to get on here and post anything prefaced with "I heard...". However, it's difficult to get straight answers from anyone in the know on this topic. When we moved here in spring of 2018, as GWN points out, connectivity was shown as Jan 2020. That wasn't a rumor or hearsay - it was printed on maps and was being said out loud by employees of TV. Since then, we have watched great progress from both ends of the eventual connection with the tunnels and bridges and paths going in on the south side to the tunnels and bridges going in on the Brownwood side. Then the "golden spike" began to be assembled on the side of the turnpike and has been put together for quite a while. So, most of the pieces are there - it's just a matter of finishing them up. Then TV comes out with a VMail proudly bragging of the connectivity coming in April/May, but never acknowledged or addressed the elephant in the room which was that that timeline was several months off from the Jan 2020 timeline. So now for the "I heard" part - I heard that the state, or FDOT to be more specific, was holding up the turnpike bridge completion until after the high season of traffic that feeds the the Orlando theme parks, much of which funnels down the turnpike. The only reason I'd repeat that hearsay is because it makes the most logical sense to me. As they say - "follow the money". We are in no particular hurry for connectivity, but I do appreciate honesty and transparency and this would all go over much better if they would just acknowledge the delay and provide a plausible reason for it rather than just acting like May is the date and always has been. Perhaps they don't want to be seen as throwing the state under the bus, or maybe they are just behind schedule and aren't used to that and don't know how to handle it. But I'm in agreement with much of the above posts - they have the resources, if it were simply a matter of getting it done by a given date, they could make it happen.
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If you are really interested, you could go right to the horses's mouth, and contact the Florida Department of Transportation. I'm sure there are permits The Villages had to secure if there was anything to do with the Turnpike, and FLDOT would be involved.